1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to visual image processing used to predict a subject's appearance after a given amount of weight loss or muscle gain and prediction of changes in health risks associated with such weight loss or muscle gain. This invention also relates to business methods employing a predictive image visualization system to attract and retain clients of service providers in the weight loss food program, fitness center, physical therapy, sports medicine, and weight control medical industries.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many people desire to decrease their body weight, especially their body fat content. Modern life styles include highly sedentary weekday routines such as computer-based desk jobs, low-exercise commuting routines such as transportation by private automobile, and high-fat, high-calorie food selections often eaten quickly or while “on the run.” Besides genetic tendencies, these factors lead many people to be dissatisfied with their appearance.
The problem is so prevalent that billion dollar industries have evolved to help people overcome their body dissatisfaction, including packaged food programs such as Weight Watchers (™) and Jenny Craig (™), fitness and workout centers such as Bally's (™), and physical therapy and sports medicine centers. This industry has also attracted medical and osteopathic doctors who specialize in the use of diet, exercise, and sometimes prescriptive regimens to help their clients and patients achieve their weight and appearance goals.
According to marketLooks.com (™), there are currently over 24,000 health clubs in the United States with 40 million members generating over 12 billion dollars in revenue each year. In 1995, health clubs and private individuals spent 3.2 billion dollars on fitness equipment alone, and these revenues are expected to reach 4.9 billion, a 38% increase, by the year 2001. In 1996, $500 million was spent on meal replacements and protein drinks, and these sales are expected to grow by 30% over the next five years.
However, many people fail to meet their goals, despite their efforts and the amounts they spend. The two most common reasons people fail in their attempts to change their body weight and appearance are lack of understanding and motivation.
Client and Patient Education
Previous technologies, systems, and methods do not adequately provide for the education and understanding of how exercise and diet affect the physiology of a person, especially taking into consideration the person's frame size or “build” and metabolism. Some available technologies include the ability to scan a photograph or import an image of a client or patient from a digital camera and to digitally alter the image manually to produce an estimate of the client's future appearance.
Currently available systems and methods simply “shrink” an image, such as by hand manipulation and editing of a digitized photograph, also known as digital “retouching.” However, different body builds will store fat in different amounts in various portions of the body, and different exercises will reduce and/or firm up different body areas unevenly. Additionally, certain features of the body will show little or no response to weight change. For example, if the width of an image of a leg is decreased by a certain percentage, the appearance of the knee will be changed. However, knees generally do not have a significant fat layer and thus have a minimum circumference at almost any weight. So, the resulting image would predict an overall thin appearance to a leg which is not physiologically achievable. Similar factors apply to other points in the body, such as the width of shoulders and hips and the circumference of joints. As this method is highly inaccurate, it does not provide the level of education a client or patient needs to understand why particular diets and exercises have been recommended and how to adjust and apply this information in the future.
In order to accurately predict a future appearance, many physiological factors must be taken into account with diet and exercise goals. Estimating the results of these changes is typically beyond the technical and medical education and skill sets of most staffers at weight loss packaged food program outlets and physical fitness centers, and such estimation may be highly labor intensive and expensive if performed by appropriately qualified health and medical professionals.
At present, there are a few relevant resources available on the Internet. One service, called MorphOver (™) from eFit of New York City, N.Y., provides a service in which users e-mail a digital photograph in JPEG format to the company's website without any body measurements, body fat data, or indicated goals, and the service returns a “slimmed” photograph file within a few weeks. The instructions indicate that the original or “before” photograph must be of the subject in dark clothing, in a certain position, and with a white background. Another on-line service offered by Sound Feelings Publishing of Reseda, Calif., is similar in that it only requires submission of a photograph without any data as to the subject's body fat, dimensions, or goals. Additionally, the advertisement for this service states that a digital photograph artist will spend at least two hours manually manipulating the photograph.
Client and Patient Motivation
There are very few credible, non-surgical remedies for rapid weight loss. Therefore, successful weight loss programs require months to even years of commitment and adherence to prescribed diet and exercise regimens. If a client or patient becomes unmotivated or loses confidence in a program, he or she will not continue the program. Further, this client or patient may produce negative effects on the attraction and retention of other clients and patients as they will report to their friends and acquaintances that the program is another “scam” or “doesn't work,” or that a particular professional is not competent. This can lead to a decline in memberships of businesses which are membership-based.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a system and method which accurately produces predicted images of a weight-loss client or patient. Such a system and method should be operable by persons of usual skill and education who are commonly employed in the package food program and fitness center industries. Further, there is a need in the art for this system and method to easily and quickly produce intermediate images, such as weekly or monthly predictions, in order to provide accurate and positive confidence reinforcement to the client or patient, thereby enhancing the likelihood that the client or patient will continue to abide by the program and ultimately achieve his or her goals. There also exists a need in the art for this system and method to be operable in a networked or an Internet-based form or in a single workstation form. Additionally, there exists a need in the art for a method of leveraging such a system to attract and retain clients and patients in this industry.